Heat dissipation is a by-product of most modern electronic equipment, and when heat dissipation from a component or assembly is sufficiently large, heatsinks are used to keep the component or assembly at a sufficiently low temperature.
An additional requirement of high-speed electronics is the containment and/or shielding of electromagnetic radiation developed by the circuitry during operation. Such electromagnetic radiation can disturb the functioning of other nearby electronic equipment, and vice versa. In order to contain electromagnetic radiation, it is known in the art to provide enclosures which either block or greatly attenuate emissions from a circuit in operation.
Under some circumstances, the electromagnetic containment enclosure can serve as a heatsink for components mounted within the enclosure. Typically, components are mounted within a circuit board within the enclosure, and means, such as a compliant thermal compound, are used to bridge gaps between a component and the enclosure wall that is to be used as a heatsink.
This approach does not provide for ready heatsinking of removable components, as there is no simple method for ensuring adequate replacement of the thermal compound when a component is replaced.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a technique for allowing removal of components from an electromagnetic enclosure which overcomes the above-described inadequacies and shortcomings, by providing a mechanism which does not require a compliant thermal compound replacement but does provide heatsinking of the removable component and integrity of the electromagnetic enclosure.